Speed-regulator for engines



W. A. NORTH.

SPEED REGULATOR FOR ENGINES. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23, 1917.

1', 348, 83 3; Patented Aug. 3, 1920..

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

,4 TTOR/VE r6.

W. A. NORTH.

SPEED REGULATOR FOR ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23, 1911.

Patented Aug. 3, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1 a do A TTOR/VE Y5.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. NORTH, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 EMERSON-BRANTINGHAM COMPANY, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SPEED- REGULATOR FOR ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 3, 1920.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM A. Non'rrr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rockford, in the county of Winnebago and. State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Speed-Regulators for Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates ingeneral to explosive engines, and has more particular reference to governor-actuated speed regulating mechanism especially adapted for controlling the speed of engines of the so-called In this type of engine action of a governor when a predetermined speed is reached, and in this way a subtantially uniform running speed may be maintained regardless of variation in the load. As a consequence, engines equipped with control. means of this character may 7 be operated very economically and are therefore espeecially desirable in connection with stationary engines.

In my present invention I have aimed, primarily, to provide an improved mechanism actuated by a governor for controlling the speed of an engine with the vlew to obtaining precision in control, economy in fuel consumption, and practicability in construction and operation.

I have also provided a'simple control mechanism which may be very easily regulated by an operator and which is so constructed that it will be very durable and serviceable and yet be capable of being produced at a comparatively low cost.

These and other objects and attendant advantages thereof will be more readily appreciated by those skilled in the art as the invention becomes better understood by reference to the following description when considered in connection with the accompaying drawings.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a stationary engine .equipped with my improvements, showing only such parts of the engine as are necessary for an understanding of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view of the crank of the en gine, certain parts being broken away to better illustrate the construction; and

Fig. 3 is a plan sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

As was mentioned above, my improveing Fig. 1.

ments are especially adapted for use with explosive engines of the hit-and-miss type, and in the drawings I have illustrated a conventional form of an engine of this type, although only such parts are shown as are necessary for a clear understanding of the invention. The well known parts of the engine comprise a horizontal cylinder 4L and a crank case 5 equipped with bearings 6 in which is mounted a crank shaft 7 carrying fly wheels 8. The valves may be of the lift type and consist of the usual intake valve 9 and exhaust valve 11 adapted to be seated or closed by means of suitable expansion springs. The particular construction of the valve mechanism and the ignition means (the latter of which is not shown) has no direct bearing on my improvements, and hence may be of any suitable form. The operation of the exhaust valve does, however, enter into a consideration of my improvements, and therefore, I have shown a means for operating this valve which may consist of a rocking beam designated generally by character 12 pivotally mounted at 13 on a fixed part of the engine and adapted to lift or unseat the valve 11 when rocked in a clockwise direction view- This valve-actuating lever or beam is adapted to be operated in timed relation with. the crank shaft by means of a suitable cam for the purpose of opening the exhaust valve and causing it to be closed at the proper time. The end 14 of the valveactuating lever is equipped with a roller 15 urged by a suitable contractile spring 16 into contact with a cam 17 fixed to, or preferably formed integral. with, a spur gear 18 revolubly mounted on a stub shaft 19 and meshing with a gear 21 fixed on the crank shaft 7. By reason of this construction, when the crank shaft'is revolved in a clockwise direction, viewing Fig. 1, the cam 17 will be revolved in a counter-clockwise direction at one-half the speed of the crank shaft, since this engine is of the four-cycle type and the exhaust valve will be opened and closed under the controlling action of the cam 17. In the position in which the cam is shown in Fig. 1, the piston has entered upon the fourth cycle or scavenger stroke and the exhaust valve will be held open by the cam during the period indicated by the dotted line AB, Fig. 1.

Coming now to the application of my improvements with the particular form of valve-actuatingunechanism illustrated, it

may be well to first mention the general ef-' fect of the control mechanism on the valveactuating means described. During operationthe lever 12. will be intermittently and .regularly rocked by the cam 17 to open and close the exhaust valve, and when apredetermined engine speed is reached the regularor normal operation of this valve-actuating lever will be interrupted by my improved control mechanism in a manner to {hold the exhaust valve in a lifted or open position so that instead of fuel being drawn into the cylinder at the suction stroke air will be drawn in through the exhaust valve.

Thus there will be no explosion and the exhaust valve will be held open until there is a predetermined reduction in. speed,

whereupon the control mechanism spoken of will allow the lever 12 to be regularly operi ated again. The control mechanism includes a governor, preferably-of the fly-ball'type. 7 One form of such governor is shown in Fig.

and consists of weighted arms 22 pivotally mounted at 23 on brackets 24 secured toone of the fly wheels, and suitable contractile 'sprin means25 forurgingthe weighted arm inwardly. The swinging movement of these arms induced by centrifugal force is trans mitted through the intermediary of arms 26 'inreciprocable movement to a spool or col- 1211 27 slidable lengthwise on the crank shaft,

the spool being grooved in the usual manner to receive the ends of the arms 26. Means are now provided for operating between the spool 27 and the valve-actuating lever 12 to' 7 "control the latter by the former for thepurpose described.

This means consists of a pivoted part designated generally by character 28 which carries an adj ustable'detent 29 adapted to be swung bymovement of the part 28 on its pivot into and out of the path I of a locking recess on the end let of the valveactuating lever formed by an adjustable recess plate 31. When the end 14 of the valveactuating. lever has been fully depressed, that is, when the exhaust valve is opened,

the detent 29 maybe swung into engagement with the lockingrecess mentioned to thereby iold' the exhaustvalve in open position. An

adjustable screw 32 is'mounted on the pm;

4 28 in a manner to'serve as an'abutment for the inner end'of the detent 29 to prevent displacement of the detent, which might-be caused by the continued impact thereof against the part'31. The detentcarrier 28 is pivotally mounted-at 33 uponthe short arm 34L of'a bell-crank lever 35 which is pivotally mounted on the shaft 191 mentioned above. Suitable means such as a cotter pin 36 may be provided for preventing displacement of the bell-crank lever 35 from the 'shaft'19. The lever 35 serves asan adjustable hand lever for changing the posiing the detent with the valve-actuating lever under the influence of the governor. This means eonslsts of a pivoted part 38 equipped intermediate its ends wlth a cone shaped wheel 39, frictionally engaging the face of a similar cone or beveled wheel 41 fixed to,

or integral with, the spool 27, the part38 being pivotally mounted at oneend on a bolt42 fixed to. the crank caseand being provided at its opposite end with a surface 13 in contact with the surfaceae on' the detent carrier 28. Acontractile spring 45 connecting the inward extension 46 of the detent carrier to the engine base constantlyurges the detent 29 awayfrom the path ofthe part 31 and at the same time holds the beveled roller 39 into engagement with the roller 41.

reason of theforegoing construction it will be evident that thegovernor movement will be transmitted to the'detent carrier 28 through the intermediary of the spool 27, beveled wheels 39 and 41 and the pivoted part 38. And because of the leverage arran ement a sli ht movement of the overb b b nor will cause a considerably greater movenent to be imparted to the detent, thereby enabling greater precision in the operation and also permitting the speed to be accurately regulated.

The governor .movement is practically unchanged'until the detent carrier is reached, whereupon due to the relative distance between the surfaces 43 and H and the pivot 33 and between this pivot and the point of the detent 29, the movement of the latter point will be practically two and onehalf times greater than that of the governor. The invention is not, however, in any way limited to this particular leverage or to the means for accomplishing 1t,-and the particular example is merely illustrative of the principles of myinvention. v "In-the operation of an engine equipped with my improvements the speed under either a variable or constant load will be automatically maintained at substantially a given number of revolutions per minute.

The change inspeed iseffected by adjustment of the lever; 35, which in the present instance, is set for a medium speed. Under.

this arrangement whenthe engine is started, explosionswill occur regularly until the predetermined speed for which the lever is set, is reached. At this point the governor will have moved the detent 29-into the path of the locking recesses on the valve-actuating lever 12, thereby holding the exhaust valve open and interrupting the supply of fuel to the cylinder so that no explosion or explosions, as the case may be, will occur until the governor balls are retracted by centripetal force, due to the decrease in speed, and allow the detent to be withdrawn by the spring 45, so that the valve-actuating lever is free to operate again in its normal manner. If it is desired to maintain a slower engine speed, the lever 35 will be adjusted downwardly, thereby swinging the pivot 33 in a counter-clockwise direction, viewing Fig. 1, and causing the detent carrier to be swung in a clockwise direction on the pivot by means of its contact with the fixed surface 43, so that the detent 29 will be moved into closer proximity to the path of the part 31. Thus the detent 29 will have to traverse less distance to engage the part 31, and consequently, less governor movement is required and the fuel supply will be interrupted at a lower engine speed. On the other hand, if a higher engine speed is to be maintained the lever 35 will be adjusted upwardly and the adjustment of the detent and the influence of the governor thereon will be the converse of that just described, That is, the detent will be moved away from the part 81, and consequently, it will be necessary for the engine to reach a higher speed before the detent will engage the valveactuating lever.

ft is believed that the foregoing conveys a clear understanding of my improvements and the objects prefaced above, and it should be understod that various changes in the construction and arrangement of parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims:

I claim:

1, In a device of the character described, the combination with an internal combustion engine having a valve-actuating part, a manually adjustable lever, the pivot axis of which is fixed with respect to the engine frame, a notched segment also fixed with respect to the engine frame and with which the lever cooperates to be held in any adjusted position, a detent carrier pivotally mounted upon and supported by said lever,

with. its pivot axis eccentric tothat of the lever, the detent carrier being movable about its pivot axis, independently of the lever, to bring its detent into and out of engagement with said valve-actuating part, and governor-actuated means for moving the detent carrier on its pivot to bring its detent into engagement with the valve-actuating part, the lever being manually adjustable to vary the operative relation of the detent carrier and valve-actuating part.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with an internal combustion engine having a valve-actuating part, a manually operable lever pivotally mounted on axis fixed with respect to the engine frame, the lever being constructed so that its manually operable end is in cooperative engagement with a notched segment fixed with respect to the engine frame, a detent carrier pivotally mounted and adapted to be oscillated about its pivot axis to bring its detent into and out of engagement with the valve-actuating part, governor-actuated means for so moving the detent carrier into engagement with the valve-actuating part, and means connecting the detent carrier with the manually operable lever for adjusting the pivot axis of the detent carrier by adjustment of the lever for changing the operative relationof the detent carrier and valveactuating part.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of a valve-actuating part, a detent carrier pivotally suspended from a horizontal axis and adapted to oscillate about said axis to bring its detent into and out of engagement with the valve-actuating part, the detent carrier having a laterally extending arm, a roller-carrying frame mounted at one end on a fixed pivot and resting at its opposite or free end on an upper surface of said laterally projecting arm, a roller mounted on said frame intermediate the ends thereof, a governor-actm ated part engageable with said roller for swinging the free end of its carrying frame downwardly whereby to swing the detent into engagement with the valve-actuating part, and a spring constantly opposing such movement of the detent carrier.

WILLIAM A. NORTH. 

